The Centre announced today that coronavirus vaccination should be done three months after recovery. Anyone who contracts the disease after receiving the first dose of the Covid vaccine should wait three months before receiving the second dose.
So far, there hasn’t been a set time for receiving a vaccine under those circumstances. Depending on the patient’s case, individual doctors advised a two- to four-week gap.
Dr. Randeep Guleria, the director of Delhi’s Al-India Institute of Medical Sciences and a member of the Centre’s Covid task force, conducted a press conference a few days ago in which he proposed a four-week delay in such situations.
The new guidelines are part of NEGVAC’s proposals for COVID-19, which were adopted by the Union health ministry. NEGVAC is headed by NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul and is responsible for vaccine administration.
Vaccination for lactating mothers is now advised by the current advisory committee.
The reforms came less than a week after the government increased the time between two Covishield vaccination doses from six to eight weeks to 12 to 16 weeks, claiming that this increased the vaccine’s effectiveness.
“Based on available real-life evidence, particularly from the United Kingdom, the COVID-19 Working Group has agreed to increase dosing interval between two doses of Covishield to 12-16 weeks. No change in intervals for Covaxin was recommended,” the government said in its statement.
In the midst of a severe vaccine crisis, the decision drew a lot of backlash from Congress. It was the second extension in three months.
Thousands of patients who have developed the disease are expected to be affected by today’s announcement. Today, 2.67 lakh new cases were reported throughout the country, bringing the total number of cases to 2.54 crore and the number of active cases to 1,27,046.
In addition, the country set a new global record by logging the deaths of 4,529 Covid patients in the last 24 hours, surpassing the previous high of the United States in January (4,475).
Though the figures have been trending down in recent weeks, the positivity rate is still not in the safe zone.
